Petronella Swart

Petronella 'Petro' Swart (1934 - 2000)

Brief overview:

Petronella (66), a farmers wife from Calitzdorp, Eastern Cape, was bludgeoned on her head with a glass bottle and a glass bowl, and reportedly kicked and jumped on.

In August 2003, part-time labourer, Andrew van Wyk (22), appeared in court, and was sentenced to 16 years imprisonment, for assisting Petronella's husband, Dirk Swart, to murder his wife. Swart offered van Wyk R40,000 to keep quiet about the murder.

The court heard how Swart had slapped his wife across the face, and "when she fell down, Swart sat on her and told van Wyk to hand him a glass bowl with which he beat her against the head. Van Wyk said Swart also hit his wife with a bottle. Apparently Johannes also jumped on Mrs Swart. Van Wyk pulled Mrs Swart from under her husband and hit her against the head. After Swart washed the blood from his hands and shoes, he offered Van Wyk and Johannes R40,000 to keep quiet about what had happened."

The District surgeon, Adam Barnard, testified that Mrs Swart died because her skull had been pulverised.

Dirk Swart's trial was to be separate from Van Wyk's, and would scheduled for later.

Brief Biography:

• Other Victims/Family
• Funeral/Memorial
• The Street/Suburb
• The Region (Land disputes, other incidents etc.)

Attack Details:

• Date and time of attack
• Weapons
• Items Stolen
• Investigative officer/SAPS Case No:
• Torture, Gratuitous violence
• Indications of Hate Crime? Threats etc.

Perpetrator details:

• Number and Descriptions
• Arrests
• Name/s and age/s of Perpetrator/s
• Country of origin of Perpetrator/s
• Trial/Conviction

Additional Biographical Information:

Links to Media articles:

• https://web.archive.org/web/20010502203241/http://www.homestead.com...
• http://archive.is/v4WgE